once more unto the breach
by eternal-state-of-voorpret
Summary: Estelle Blofis learns about the gods on a stormy night in New York City, back from her sixth grade field trip to the Metropolitan Museum of Art. In which history repeats itself...from a distance this time.


**Disclaimer: Don't own a single thing here. All property of Rick Riordan.**

**Enjoy! in honour of estelle blofis, mortal and still kicking ass.**

* * *

"_And does history repeat itself, the first time as tragedy, the second time as farce? No, that's too grand, too considered a process. History just burps, and we taste again that raw-onion sandwich it swallowed centuries ago."_

― Julian Barnes, A History of the World in 10½ Chapters

* * *

It was the fourth day in a row that it was raining.

Well, raining was a word. Storming was probably more accurate. Thunder and lightning and torrential downpours—the whole works. Morning and night, morning and night, day after day.

Estelle didn't mind it. She had lived in Manhattan her entire life and it would take more than a bit of thunder and lightning to pose concern when it came to weather matters.

Her mother however was decidedly _not_ a fan. Mom hated thunderstorms. Percy said it was because their grandparents had been killed in a plane crash during one. He'd never known them, and neither did their Mom, really, since she'd been so young when they'd died—hardly a kindergartener. She didn't speak much about them, though when she did it was second-hand information, something she'd gleaned from the Internet about the crash or heard from her late uncle. She said she didn't miss them all too much as she'd not known them well enough.

However, Estelle had been named after her grandmother, so she figured Mom missed them at least a little bit.

"It's quite a show," Mom said over breakfast, biting her lip as she looked out the window. "It's really stormy, Stella, and probably chilly too. You're still fighting off that cold from last week. Maybe you should stay at home today."

"Mom, we're going to a _museum_," Estelle said. "The rain can't get us in there."

Mom didn't look convinced. Her dad walked in at that exact moment, dressed in his work clothes and drying his hair with his towel. He went over to kiss her mother before coming around the table to give Estelle a peck on her head. "Hey, my girls. You guys look a little tense."

"Mom's not allowing me to go on a class field trip," Estelle pouted. "It's to a museum! The _Metropolitan Museum Of Art_. It'll be educational! You love education!"

Dad made his patented "tough luck, kiddo" face, the face he made whenever Estelle struck out in soft ball. "Well, your mother has a point. It's storming pretty bad out there, Stella."

Oh, for the sake of—her parents sometimes were really unbelievable. "I'll be inside the museum Dad. I'll be in the bus, and at school, and then the bus, and then the museum, and then the bus again, and then the school again…I'll be inside the _whole _time. The whole entire time. It's just rain. I'll be one hundred percent fine. Ms. Lawrence is the _best_, and Mr. Robin is really funny and responsible. We'll just be seeing some exhibits, grab lunch and then be back quick as that. Quick as _lightning_." She grinned at her pun. Her mom _always_ laughed at her puns and made atrocious ones of her own. However, this time she just looked unsure. Her dad smiled, but not wholeheartedly.

"Okay," Mom said. She sighed. "Stella, go put on you shoes and grab _both_ your raincoat and your umbrella. Your Dad and I have to talk."

"Oh, thank you!" She jumped out her seat to kiss her Mom on her cheek. Her Mom smiled and hugged her back. She raced out the living room. Behind her she heard her Mom and Dad start to converse in soft tones, snatches of conversation floating down the hallway. "It'll be safe", and "She's a little girl", and "Never stopped them before". Then her Dad said, "She's…a hundred percent _mortal_, Sally," and Mom sighed real deeply and they were kissing—

Mortal? Estelle paused in the middle of tying her shoelaces. That was a completely wacky reason to offer as to why she'd stay safe during a museum trip. Everyone was mortal. Mortality meant the ability to die. Her dad was offering up _that_ as an argument to let Estelle go on a field trip?

Mom came around to the hallway where she was squatting by the shoe stand. "Ready Estelle? I'll drop you to the bus stop." Then she smiled wide and opened the door, cracking some joke about Dad's inability to find an appropriate tie to work and Estelle forgot all about the mortal comment.

Yeah. Her parents were weird. So what? Maya's parents had apparently met at a _circus_ and then kept running into each other because they were such big fans of the circus that they followed the show throughout the country. Her parents got scared of thunderstorms.

Could be weirder.

* * *

"Ste—_lla_!" Maya bounded towards her at the bus stop and grabbed her in a hug. She smiled up at Mom. "Hi, Mrs. Blofis."

"Hey, Maya," Mom said, smiling back at her. It was kind of impossible _not_ to smile back at Maya. "Fun day ahead, huh?"

"Oh, the best!" Maya gushed. She always did. Percy joked that all the sunshine in New York had been stuffed into Maya. "I've been on a bit of a Greek mythology kick lately, so I'm really excited to see the new exhibit on Pottery they've got at the Metropolitan."

Mom's smile wavered a bit. "That's awesome, Maya."

"The bus is here," Estelle said. She turned and hugged her Mom. "Okay, see you, later Mom! You want anything from the gift store?"

"Oh, no need. But get something nice for yourself! Maybe a cute shirt or something."

"I'm getting the new Mythomagic expansion deck, if it's there." Maya said as they climbed the steps of the bus. "I wonder if they have Apollo. They stopped making them for some reason, so only a very few are still in circulation if any."

Maybe it was Estelle's imagination, after all, she wasn't even sure if she had heard them, but her Mom's smile dimmed several watts as she waved through the window.

They sat in the back row of the bus, wedged between Timothy Simmons and the new girl Sarah Fincher. Timothy was loud and boisterous, but nice, making funny observations throughout the ride to make Maya and Estelle and the two kids in front of them laugh. Sarah was quieter and meeker and softer, but she had the type of smile that had made Estelle and Maya immediate friends in kindergarten, bright and sunshiney and absolutely blinding. It came out rarer than Maya's, but it could make someone's day all the same. Sarah was one of the only sixth grade boarders at Freeman Academy, which was mainly a day school. She and Timothy had become an unlikely pair of fast friends.

"You excited to see the museum?" Maya asked Sarah as they weaved through New York City traffic. "Have you ever been there?"

Sarah shook her head. "First time."

"Mine too," Estelle said. "What about you, Tim? Have you ever been here before?"

Tim shook his head. "First time too."

"Well, I've been here before," Maya said, somehow smiling at all three of them in a split second. "And let me tell you, you will _not_ be disappointed."

She launched off listing the names of the exhibits, Timothy and Sarah interjecting frequently with questions.

Estelle leaned back, eyes out the window. People hurried back home, colourful blurs in the rain stained window. It was ten in the morning, but it looked dark enough to be evening. Unseasonal, but not exactly unusual.

This was New York City after all. Anything went. Percy even joked that it was the city of the gods.

"Out, kids!" Ms Lawrence's voice projected through the loudspeaker. "Clutch on to your friends and watch your step—the stairs will be pretty slippery! Use the buddy system!"

"Will you be my buddy?" Estelle asked Maya.

"Do you have to ask?"

They followed Sarah and Tim out the bus, tugging their raincoats tight against the wind. The Metropolitan's warmth was a relief. Statues and gleaming pottery and beautiful tapestries adorned its every exhibit. Ms Lawrence led them through each of them, asking questions and providing information and throwing out fun facts. Maya, eager as she was, volunteered fun facts of her own, earning high fives and pats on the back from both Ms Lawrence and Mr Robin. They passed through the Greek exhibits, first the one with the historians and philosophers, Maya pointing out the bust of Homer and the statue of Socrates and the slightly chipped one of Aristotle.

The mythology section was even better. There was a statue of some dude eating what looked like a baby and Ms Lawrence started narrating the story of Kronos. People gagged and made faces but Maya just jumped up and down and completed the story.

Estelle liked it well enough—her Dad had told her the general, cleaned up plot of Hannibal Lector when she was ten, much to her mother's amusement. But what really caught her attention was the statue of Athena, with its gleaming shield and little statue of Nike perched on the shoulder. Her cape and robes seemed to flow with the softness of fabric even though carved out of stone.

"Awesome, right?" Maya said, sidling up next to her. Her eyes were bright with wonder. "They say there's this huge statue of Athena in Greece. Lost, made of ivory and gold. I think it was called the…Parthenos? No, sorry, I think it's Parthenon. The Athena Parthenon."

"I can't imagine the sculptor could have done better than this," Estelle said, transfixed.

"Just imagine how awesome it would be if they did find the original statue though." Maya sighed "of God, I get so mad sometimes, thinking of all the art buried under the rubble. Nothing compared to what I feel when I remember the Library of Alexandria."

"Hey, kids!" Ms Lawrence called. "Come around for a quick sec." She waited till everyone scurried back to form a loose semicircle around her. "Alright, everyone here? So, now we break for lunch. You've got an hour and a half, grab something to eat and check out the gift shop and then come back here sharp fifteen minutes to two. We've got a last couple of exhibits to go to and then we head back, okay?" There were a chorus of okays.

Maya and Estelle drifted off from the group. Their moms had packed sandwiches and apple slices along with some juice—they sat on a bench near a fountain. Sarah and Timothy joined them a bit later clutching paper bags and sodas from the museum café.

"Mind if we join?" Sarah asked.

"Of course not!" Maya patted the seat next to us. "What've you got there?"

"Uh, turkey sandwich and a coke. Can't go wrong there." Sarah shrugged. Maya offered her an apple slice.

"Enchilada." Timothy held up his bag. "_Cannot_ go wrong there."

* * *

The problem Estelle decided, after everything went down, was that an hour and a half should have been used to _just_ eat lunch and visit the gift shop. Maybe if she'd taken just a bit longer to slurp down her juice, and maybe if Maya had taken just a minute longer at the gift store to choose between the statuette of Ares and Artemis before deciding to buy them both, then none of the things which happened would have happened.

Or maybe they would have. Maybe somethings just have to happen. Maybe somethings are just written in stone.

It started like this:

"You know," Timothy said, bouncing the bouncy ball he'd bought at the gift store, "we should probably check out the Sumerian exhibit. It's new. Pretty cool too I've heard. Greek pottery…once you've seen one exhibit, you've seen them all."

"This is about _funeral_ _art_," Maya said. "Don't you want to learn about Greek burial customs?"

"Well, I'd rather learn about Egyptian burial customs. They were _grand_." For some weird inexplainable reason, Tim's limp always became more pronounced when he was nervous. He claimed it was due to a very nasty basketball injury a couple of years back. Right now, it looked like he was dragging his feet forward against his wish. "But, anyway. I just—I just don't like death."

Maya paused. "Oh. Oh, in that case, I'm sorry. You want us to stay with you or—?"

"Oh, no, no. You and Stella carry on. I'll just stay here with Sarah."

Sarah looked apologetic. She fiddled with a strand of dark hair. "Actually, Tim, I wanted to check out the exhibit myself. Funeral art does sound kind of interesting. I've always been interested in Greek burial rites—I mean they seem both traditional and grand, but also kind of simple even though Hades was the god of riches."

Tim paled. "Oh. Oh well. You know, it's fine. I can handle pottery. We have only half an hour anyway." He waved away Maya and Sarah's concerns.

The exhibit seemed almost like any other. There was a bust of Hades, whose eyes seemed to follow Estelle. A statue of a weeping woman. A tapestry with a funeral procession on it. There was a piece of poetry with a small inscription above some black stick like figures. Sarah frowned as she took it in, shaking her head and immediately squinting at the small plaque with information on it.

"Funeral of a little girl about our age," Maya said, caught on the same piece of pottery. "Died of illness."

"Illness demon," Sarah said. She frowned. Squinted at the little plaque. "No, wait, just illness…" She looked back up at the inscription, eyebrows knit together. Her eyes widened a bit. Then she shook her head.

"You okay, Sarah?" Tim asked.

Sarah nodded, though she seemed unsure. "Yeah, I'm fine. Just my eyes playing tricks on me. You know, my dyslexia. Acts up really weirdly sometimes. Can't read a page of English but makes me thing I can read Ancient Greek or something." She laughed and Maya did too. Tim did not.

Estelle cracked a smile. "Yeah, my brother says the same thing to. It's better now but he says it used to be way worse when he was younger. He'd mess up the easy words too—dogs instead of gods, and instead of ducks—"

"You know, we should probably go," Tim said. "People will be returning about now and Ms Lawrence said she'd take us to see a couple more exhibits. We should go."

"Yeah, sure," Maya said. "This pottery is really cool though. She frowned and leaned closer. "You felt you could read it, Sarah?"

"Hallucinating," Sarah said. "Just bits and pieces. Mainly the plaque thing. Maybe I managed to read it but my eyes started to play tricks on me. Read nosoi in English and thought I was deciphering Greek or something—"

"You know, we should really _go_—" Tim tried to move so fast that he tripped over his own feet and careened forward. Maya tried to catch him, but he fell forward with so much force that they both went crashing through the glass exhibit. Sarah yelped and jumped back. Estelle was sure she screamed herself. The crash was resounding; splintered went flying everywhere. And in the middle of the exhibit, a few feet from where Tim and Maya lay tangled on the ground, the broken shards of the 3000 years pot gleamed up at them.

This was bad. This was _so_ bad. Her mom was never gonna let her go anywhere again.

Then Maya started screaming. And Estelle thought it was pain setting in—maybe she'd broken something in the fall, but then Tim started shaking too, eyes wide with fear.

And then _Sarah_ jumped back, which made no sense, looking downright terrified. "What _are_ those thing?"

Estelle tried to even out her voice. "What things?" She tried to look in the the general direction her three friends were staring in. "_What_ things?"

"Estelle, Sarah, get _out_." Tim tried to lift both Maya and himself of the ground. "Get out, get _running_, before these things—"

Sarah grabbed Estelle and made a dash. Tim and Maya stumbled behind them. A crowd had gathered due to the commotion—the breaking glass and screaming kids, as a guard tried to stop them, but Sarah and Maya and Tim ran blindly from exhibit to exhibit, dragging her with them. What were they running from?"

Blobs. Some weird blobs. She could see them now, faintly, if she concentrated and told herself to look at what her friends seemed to be seeing, some weird glittery blobs. They came crashing to a stop in front of the statue of Athena. Tim dragged them behind her cape, and good time too, because Estelle not only finally saw, but finally heard too what her friends were seeing.

"_ANTHRAX, EBOLA, CANCER_!" The blobs screeched, flitting in and out of Estelle's vision. "_SOOOOOOO MANY TYPES OF CANCER! ATHLETE'S FOOT, TUBERCULOSIS! WHAT SHALL YOU DIE FROM TODAY?"_

One of the blobs surged forward—or maybe not blobs, if Maya's screaming was anything to go by—and Estelle's ears rang with the blob's chants and she tried pinching herself awake—

The stone cape turned red. It turned red and it turned soft and it fell on top of all four of them. Estelle dared only to take a peak from under the cloth, mind breaking by the second—was that a _woman_? Was that—was that _Athena_?

"Oh my God," Maya said confirming Estelle's deductions. "Oh, my—oh my _God_—"

"Begone _nosoi_," the woman—Athena—said, voice level but grave. "Your master is not here. Begone."

"_WE SMELL HIM!_" The blobs' voice rang through the museum. "_WE SMELL HIM! IN THAT SAME MORTAL CASING!"_

Athena's dark brown hair fell in a braid down her back, her eyes flashed angrily. She looked familiar, unnervingly so, but Estelle couldn't place her. "Begone. He is not here. You know he will never be here. You have a new master now."

"_YOU CANNOT FOOL US! WE ARE AN OLD AND POWERFUL FORCE! WE SMELL HIM! AFTER YEARS AND YEARS OF LIES AND LOOKING WE HAVE FOUND HIM_!"

Athena shouted something. Something old and powerful sounding that reverberated though the museum, much much louder than anything the blobs had managed so far. Estelle thought she'd go deaf.

But it worked. The blobs disappeared. Tim started breathing again. Sarah still looked shocked, but less afraid. Maya crawled out from under the cloth, eyes bright. Athena started to turn around to look at them.

"You're—" Maya began.

Then the police sirens started up. And then the museum alarms. All of them, all at once. People were crowding and pointing at the four of them, apparently seeing right through Athena. Guards shouted orders, sealed off exhibits.

Oh, Estelle was going to get in so _much_ trouble. They'd destroyed one exhibit almost completely. She remembered the glistening shards of the shattered red and black pottery piece and remembered Maya's words from earlier that day about being mad about the Library of Alexandria.

She felt tears press heavy against her eyes. She sniffed and reached to wipe them away.

Tim helped her and Sarah up. He frowned at Estelle. "You okay there?"

"Yeah, I'm just—" There were shutters of cameras and mobile phones. Were people taking _photos_? "My Dad's a high school English professor, so he loves literature, but he's also a big history buff and we smashed that artefact—"

"Hey," Tim said. "Hey. It's okay. It wasn't your fault. I'm the one who tripped and fell."

Estelle opened her mouth to argue but it died in her throat. Athena—so it _wasn't_ a figment of overactive imagination—had reappeared by their side. She regarded them coolly for a few seconds before bending down to pick up her cape. It shimmered in the light of the museum.

"Did the _nosoi _come in contact with any of you at all?" Athena asked. Her eyes, a magnificent grey, looked straight at Tim.

To Estelle's utter befuddlement, Tim bowed low. "No, Lady Athena."

"Alright." Athena's gaze passed over Estelle, Maya and Sarah. It lingered just a bit longer on Sarah, expression growing a smidge tighter. Was it just Estelle's own perception, or did her eyes seem a bit sadder? "You did well, satyr, in protecting them. But take them to the fountain anyway and dip your heads in the water. To be safer. I will deal with the mortals here."

Tim nodded his head quickly. "Come on, guys!"

Athena nodded. For a brief second she looked back at the the three girls. Her eyes seemed mostly for Sarah, but then she gave a wonderstruck Maya a small smile and sent them on their way. To Estelle however she held out a hand to stop her. "You are the daughter of Sally Jackson and…Paul Blofis, aren't you?"

Estelle nodded, her voice failing to come out.

"Your brother no longer stays with you does he?"

Estelle shook her head.

"But he's near? Surely? He and his wife, Annabeth?"

Annabeth. _That_ was why Athena looked so familiar. The nose, the grey eyes, the little smile when they saw someone passionate about learning like Athena had given to Maya—Estelle had grown up with Annabeth smiling at her like that.

"Ask your mother to call them," Athena said. "They will explain everything. Let Maya—tell your friend all you hear later, if you wish to do so, as she has the ability to see through the Mist. But later. Let her go home and sleep on it tonight, if her curiosity allows. As for your other friend, Sarah…she lives in the boarding I believe? Ask your mother to take her to your home, just for tonight. I will deal with the teachers. But she has to hear the truth, and Percy Jackson might be the best one to tell her that."

Okay. Estelle's brain was officially _broken._

"For now, just go and wash your face," Athena said. She started to walk away. But then she stopped abruptly and turned. "Nico di Angelo and Will Solace. They live close to your brother right?"

They were the only ones of Percy and Annabeth's friends who lived in New York City. Mom always tried to get them to come for Saturday dinner. Estelle had been babysat by them, read stories to by them, taught math by them. Will always brought her favourite donuts when he dropped by. Estelle remembered Nico trying to teach her how to beat Maya at Mythomagic, although not very successfully. She nodded.

"Well, it would be good if they could come too." Athena sighed. "I would reckon that Sarah would appreciate having a closer relative explain the situation to her as well."

With that, she gave Estelle a last smile before disappearing into the crowd.

* * *

No one remembered anything. Not the museum officials, none of the guards or assembled crowd, not Ms Lawrence or Mr Robin or any of their classmates.

The police reckoned it was some criminal or the other, and people gave various reports about this dark haired, bearded man or this thin, reedy voiced woman, but Estelle knew better. She told Maya to keep quiet and to herself, and told Tim about the conversation she had with Athena. It took all three of them to convince Sarah that she absolutely could _not_ go back to school, and that Sally and Paul were the kindest and would keep her safe for a day, or a week, or however long Sarah needed. What finally won her over was when Ms Lawrence and Mr Robin could recognise Maya and Estelle and even Tim, but had no idea who Sarah was.

It also took Tim opening his pants, face red, much to their shock and initial horror. The furry goat legs was just about enough to drive Estelle crazy but Sarah just sat down heavily on a bench and Maya cracked up.

Mom and Dad ran in the minute the police lifted a barricade for parents to enter and claim their children. Nobody had been hurt, but you couldn't have guessed that with the way her parents ran in and grabbed her in a hug. Out of the corner of her eyes she could see Mr and Mrs Ronalds taking turns squeezing the heck out of Maya. No one came for Sarah and Tim. Tim didn't look like he minded much, and Sarah seemed too stunned, but Mom untangled herself from Estelle to go to them. She took in Tim's expression and turned to Sarah.

"Hi," Mom said kindly, a soft smile on her face. "You must be Sarah. I'm Sally, Estelle's mother. That's Paul, my husband. I understand that it is all very overwhelming now…" She sighed and sat down next to Sarah. "Anybody I can call for you?"

Sarah stared blankly for a bit before shaking her head. "No. There's—there's no one."

Mom's smile became a little sad. "Alright dear. Now, I know we're essentially strangers, but you can trust us. We will explain everything to you, and find you a safe place to stay—you can stay with us for as long as you like of course."

"I can't," Sarah said, like it was obvious. "I'm a _boarder_. I can't just run off with someone I _literally_ just met—they won't allow it—this is my fourth school in six years! I know how schools work!"

"Sarah," Mom said, firm but gentle. "Honey, this will sound crazy and unbelievable—but I _swear_, it is all for the best."

"Hey." Both Estelle and Dad turned at the familiar greeting. Her brother smiled at both of them and ruffled Estelle's hair before turning his full attention to their Mom and Sarah. "Hi, Sarah. I heard you had quite a day at the museum today."

Sarah narrowed her eyes at him. "Okay. And _you_ are—?"

Her brother's green eyes shimmered. There wasn't a lot of humour in this situation, but he still had that twinkle in his eyes, like he'd heard a good joke. Outside, the rain continued to pour. "Oh, me? Estelle's brother. I'm Percy Jackson."

* * *

No one opened their mouth on the drive back home. Mom and Dad drove Estelle, Sarah and Timothy with them in their Prius. Percy, Annabeth and baby Marisol followed behind them in their yellow Jeep. No one spoke throughout the long process of hanging up everybody's raincoats and shoes and umbrellas and locating the bathroom (mainly Timothy), except Marisol who chattered and chattered in her babyspeak. Mom called Estelle into the kitchen to help her fix up some snacks.

"Some chips and corn-spinach sandwiches will do right?" Mom asked, pouring some hot chocolate into bright green mugs. "We can order in Chinese later. The place down Mrs Rosalie's street with those amazing dumplings. Will Tim and Sarah like it?"

"I don't know." Estelle leant heavy against their fridge. It was decorated to the point of clutter—a stellar report card of Estelle's, a picture of Annabeth and Percy when they were way younger, a finger painting by Marisol all fastened by magnets Dad had brought from California when they'd visited last summer. "I—they mainly eat what they give at school. I mean we all do, but they're both in the boarding, and new, so…" She shrugged. "I'll ask them, but I don't think they'll be worried about what they'll have for _dinner_. I mean, you said we'd get explanations for what happened today."

Mom pursed her lips. "We're just waiting for Nico and Will."

Estelle frowned. "Cool, but…it's a school night. They never come over for dinner on school nights." Now _Piper_, however. She was so rarely in New York Mom called her over whenever she was in town, even if it was twelve at midnight on a Monday night. But Will was in his last year of residency at Mount Sinai and Nico was completing his final drafts on his latest novel—they'd been kind of hard to come by lately.

"I know, baby. But…well, it will all make sense soon." Mom nudged her slightly. "Help me with the tray?"

Estelle nodded and pushed herself off the fridge. She started placing the juices on the tray. "Mom," she said, voice suddenly failing. "Are you—are you angry at me? Because you told me not to go today and…it's just been quite a bit of trouble."

Unexpectedly, her mother started laughing. And laughing. She kept laughing as she said, "Oh, Stella." She touched Estelle's hair gently. "Honey, I will never—I will _never_ be angry for you being 'quite a bit of trouble'. Life just…sometimes, for no reason at all, life just throws you a bit of trouble. All you can do is regroup and embrace."

Estelle smiled at her Mom. "Okay."

"Of course, that is no permission for you to go and actively _seek_ out trouble on your own."

Estelle's grin widened. "Of course."

"Oh, and Estelle?" Mom paused by the doorway of the kitchen. "Nothing of what you will hear tonight is going to serve as _inspiration_ either, alright?"

* * *

Will and Nico stumbled through the door at quarter to seven, looking harried and worn out. Marisol immediately screeched and threw her two year old self at Nico who lifted her up easily with a "Hey champ".

"Sorry that we kept you waiting so long," Will said, accepting a hug from Sally. "There was a huge MVC—"

"Hey, no issue," Sally said, moving on to hug Nico. "This is Tim, our satyr, and Sarah—"

"They say I'm a demigod," Sarah said. She'd been quietly chewing on her sandwich all this while after Annabeth had dropped the bombshell on her. "Half god, half mortal. Are you two demigods as well?"

Estelle tried not to think about that. She'd been trying her best not to think about that for a while. Her _brother_. A freaking demigod. All these years she'd thought he'd had a deadbeat dad. Then he had made a tiny flower out of the water in the glass and Estelle had had to rearrange everything in her brain.

Nico and Will exchanged a wordless glance before focusing back on Sarah. "We are," Nico said. "You're Sarah Fincher? How long have you known Estelle?"

"Not long enough that her _entire_ family feels comfortable playing an insane prank on me." Sarah didn't seem exactly mad when she said that. Even kind of touched you could say, like she felt it gratifying to be so close to someone they'd play a practical joke on her.

Estelle didn't feel so gratified. This was one _hell_ of a joke to play, if it involved the police and their teachers and a museum break-in complete with a goddess cosplayer.

"A couple of months," Sarah answered, "Since the beginning of this school year. My foster family sent me here. Their kids—who are adults now—apparently did all their schooling here. They're really nice people, all my foster parents have been so far, but they're riding out retirement. Empty nesters. I was kind of an experiment fostering."

Nico sat down on the coffee table in front of her. "Did you ever know your birth parents? Heard anything from them? About them?"

"Any records?" Annabeth asked. She squeezed Sarah's hand. "Birth certificate? A…death certificate?"

"Well, I _kind_ of knew my Mom," Sarah said. "Knew might be a bit generous, but…her name was Ann. She was a microbiologist at a college in Wisconsin. She fell sick when I was three. Cancer. It was a quick few months after that."

"I'm sorry." Marisol was sitting in her father's lap, chewing on her fingers, but Percy managed to reach around over her head to give Sarah a sympathetic smile.

Sarah shook her head. "It's fine. It's been a long time. I don't really remember much about her."

"Well," Will said. "It certainly narrows down a lot of things. Your Dad…your Dad's probably the godly one."

"Uh, no. My Dad died way before my Mom. That's what the orphanage was told."

Nobody spoke for a while. Annabeth reached over to take Marisol from Percy, as though seeking comfort from their daughter. Nico looked up to where Will was sitting on the arm of the sofa, exchanging another wordless look. Mom looked sad. Estelle remembered her Mom biting her lip at the storm today, remembered herself thinking about how Mom must have missed her parents at least a little bit—Sally Jackson probably knew _just_ how lonely Sarah was.

Finally, it was Percy who broke the quiet. "Sarah, what do you know about the Greek Gods?"

"Not a lot. Zeus was the king or whatever. He had a bunch of kids. Athena, Hermes, so on." Sarah stared. "You _really_ think I'm the daughter of a Greek God?"

"I'm about ninety-nine per cent sure," Percy said. "And I have a…fairly good idea about who your godly parent is as well."

"So did my mom, apparently," Annabeth said. She looked at Sarah, and then Estelle. She took a deep breath. "You guys met her today."

"Your Mom is _Athena_?" Sarah asked, wide eyed. Estelle felt too stunned to speak. She imagined sweet, bumbling Fredrick Chase falling in love with that calm, scarily assured lady at the museum. She couldn't fathom it.

But, Estelle allowed, she _could_ imagine Annabeth being her daughter. She was as calm and scarily assured as you could get.

"Okay. Fine. Cool." Sarah turned to the rest of them. She cocked an eyebrow at Tim, who hurriedly shook his head. She turned to Estelle. "Estelle?"

"I'm not a demigod." Estelle looked up at her parents, silent all these while, like recalling bad memories. "I'm not, am I?"

Her dad leaned forward to kiss the top of her head. "No, honey."

Sarah turned to Percy. "But _you_ are?"

Percy shrugged. "I'm technically Stella's half-brother. Paul's not my actual dad, although he is an absolutely rocking stepfather." Both of them exchanged a warm look. "My dad's Poseidon."

"_Who_?" Sarah asked, with so much vehemence that Nico snorted.

"God of the Sea." Percy sighed, "Wow, not a fan of Greek mythology. Guess your Latin teacher really isn't the Trainer of Heroes in disguise."

Sarah shook her head. "I don't take Latin."

"History?"

"Well, when the unit of Greece came around, it was more about the history and politics than its mythology."

"Well, mythology's history, in a way. History of beliefs." Percy shrugged though. "But anyway. Poseidon is one of Zeus's brothers. God of horses, the sea, earthquakes, the whole works." He caught Estelle's eye and his smile dropped. He mouthed 'later' to her.

"Okay. Poseidon. Cool." Sarah turned to Nico and Will. "You guys?"

"I'm the son of Hades, the God of the Underworld," Nico said. Dear _God_.

"My father's Apollo," Will said—but _that_ surely was impossible, because Will's dad had been dead for almost as long as Estelle had been alive. He'd told her that, a couple of years ago, when Estelle had asked him. "Maybe you'd have heard of him? The Sun, archery, healing. It's a pretty diverse portfolio."

Sarah considered that. "So, all of you except Annabeth, you have godly fathers?"

"In this room, yes." Will joined Nico on the table. "Sarah, how old are you exactly? Thirteen?"

"Almost fourteen." Sarah looked a bit self-conscious. "I joined kindergarten a year late—that was the first year someone fostered me."

Will nodded. He looked suddenly, terribly sad, but he smiled at her. "Alright."

"So, basically you guys are saying, my mom lied? Or that she misunderstood, or assumed wrong—my father's not actually dead?"

"No, she didn't lie," Nico said. "She was right. He's dead. He's been dead for a while."

"So, you're saying my _mom_ is the godly parent—how does it work? I mean, they're gods. Gods don't die."

"No, they don't, usually," Will said. "But…I think you're my half-sister. I think your father is, well _was, _my father, Apollo. He wasn't a god when he died, but he was a god when you were born."

There was a pause—not exactly like someone was holding their breath, but more like there was a distinct lack of air in the room. Not enough to breathe. Sarah broke it. "You're saying that, basically, all I've ever known was right? You haven't told me anything different. My mom's dead. My dad's dead. None of this—none of this is exactly a surprise."

"It isn't," Will agreed. "It's what comes after this. Your powers, your abilities. Ever got into trouble for something you did without any explanation? Saw things which seemed impossible? Those demon blobs that attacked you today, in the museum, those _nosoi_? They were awakened by the crash, but they latched onto you because of your scent. Your _demigod_ scent," Will stressed when Sarah made a move to sniff her armpits. "And they're not going to be the last. Monsters will hunt you. Scores of them, until you grow older and your scent weakens. Most demigods—they don't grow older."

"There should be a but in there," Sarah said. "Or it's just mean to tell me I'll probably die.

"Camp Half-Blood," Annabeth said. "You'll be safe there. Safer than anywhere else. You'll learn to fight and to protect yourself. And—right now," she looked at Will. "Right now, you don't have siblings there, and you probably won't have any in the future either, but you do have siblings elsewhere and you can get to know them. Will here, and then there Austin and Kayla who are _way_ more cooler than him. But siblings or no siblings, Sarah, I promise you, there's a family to be found there."

"You think?"

Annabeth's smile was nearly blinding. "I know. I found mine there."

Sarah bit her lip. "I know nothing about Greek mythology though. Like, I know maybe three or four gods. I didn't know Poseidon. I know nothing about monsters."

"There's time to learn," Percy said. "Believe me, you never completely know Greek mythology. There are always myths, and gods, and monsters who you wouldn't have heard a _thing_ about. And they always want to kill you."

"They'll be an orientation tour," Will said. "And someone will explain things to you, and Chiron—our director—he has this introductory guide we made way back, and it has interviews and important information and stories from mythology and stories about quests... It'll be fine. It'll be more than fine."

"And these people don't like the orientation film, they don't show it anymore even," Nico started, getting boos from Percy, Will and Annabeth. "But, honestly, _I_ think it's a work of art. In any case, Chiron will be sure to make an exception for you."

"It sucks," Will said. "But I think you'll appreciate it. Our dad filmed it. He's in it a lot too, so you can see him."

"When can I go to this camp?" Sarah asked.

"Whenever," Nico said. "Will and I are free right now, unless some asshole crashes his bike into a bus without a helmet or something. So, we can go now, or we can wait for a while—"

"You should wait till dinner," Mom said. "We're ordering in Chinese. And you can stay the night Sarah, wait till the rain lets up."

"Driving to camp in the rain isn't the funnest thing in the world," Percy agreed. "To be fair though, it's never a whole lot of fun, rain or no rain…"

"I think we should all wash up and have something to eat." Annabeth stood up, swinging Marisol onto her hip. Marisol giggled and tangled her fist into her mother's hair. "Or, well, you guys should. _I'll_ be getting this naughty little girl to bed."

"I'll help," Percy said, taking Marisol in his arms.

All three of them disappeared into the guest bedroom. Dad said he'd order the food and left to find the phone. Tim, who'd been quiet the whole time, started quizzing Nico about something he'd heard at this Camp, a quest for some sword or stepmother or something. Mom kissed the top of Estelle's head and said she'd be back soon before following Dad into their room to tell him what to order.

"So, you're my big brother, huh?" Sarah asked Will. "And Annabeth mentioned…I have other siblings?"

"Austin and Kayla. They're amazing, you'll love them. Austin's a professor at Juilliard. He's awesome at playing the violin, and the piano, but he is on another plane altogether on the sax. Kayla's an Olympic archer. She's won a couple of gold medals and championships, but unfortunately she's Canadian."

"What do you do?"

"I'm finishing up my residency at Mount Sinai. I'm hoping to specialise in Trauma surgery, get a good fellowship, you know?" Will said. "Nico writes books. Mainly graphic novels. He writes, his sister sketches. It's a family business almost. They're really good."

Sarah looked impressed. "Wow. Anything I'd know?"

"Probably. It's a lot of murder mystery, a bit a journalistic non-fiction. I'm in fifth year of medical hell, so I don't read them, but it's on my to do list the minute I pass my boards."

Sarah nodded. "So, your lives really evened out, didn't they? What do Percy and Annabeth do?"

"Percy's a lecturer at NYU," Estelle burst out. "A marine biologist."

"Because Poseidon?" Sarah asked.

Apparently. "I guess," she said. "And Annabeth's an architect. Has her own firm and everything." She felt so tired all of a sudden. Her brother and his friends were the children of Greek gods. For the past twelve years, she'd hung out with demigods.

And Sarah Fincher was one too. The sweet, quiet, new girl was the daughter of a god. Tim was a _goat_. Maya—Maya was probably going out of her mind with what she'd seen today. Estelle promised herself that the first thing she'd do when her own mind stopped spinning was go and tell Maya about everything that she had learned today.

"Will?" Sarah asked softly, snapping Estelle out of her reverie. "You said our father wasn't a god when he died. How exactly did he die?"

Estelle turned to look at Will. Nico and Tim paused in the middle of the conversation as well.

"It's a long story," Will said. "Longer than most. You'll hear the entire story, but later, okay?"

"We'll tell you once you get to Camp," Nico promised. "It isn't the first story you want to hear about your father."

Sarah grimaced. "That bad, huh?"

Will didn't answer that. Nico just sighed and leant back, eyes closed. "It's just a long story," Nico said. "Too long for today."

* * *

Dinner was a fun affair. Tim cracked everyone up with his jokes, and Dad told a story about some of his students who'd pranked the Principal that had everyone in splits. Nobody talked about gods or monsters or demigods. This was both good and bad for Estelle—it gave her less ammunition to overthink about, but it also gave her more time.

Finally, it was time for Nico and Will to take Sarah and Tim to Camp Half Blood, saying that quicker the better it was, when it came to demigod matters. Mom had hugged Sarah and Tim tight and send them off with a bag of goodies. Estelle had waved at them for a long time. Then she'd declined her Dad's invite to play snap with him and gone straight to her room to stare up at her ceiling.

There was a knock at the door. "Stella?" Percy's voice called out. Annabeth and he had decided to stay the night. "You asleep? Could I come in?"

Estelle groaned and went to unlatch the door. "Why aren't you asleep?"

"Reasons." Percy let himself into her room and switched on the light. "I wanted to check up on you. Quite a bombshell I dropped on you today."

"Why didn't you ever tell me that Poseidon was your dad?" Estelle said. "All this while, I thought your dad was a deadbeat who hated Christmas. And all your friends are demigods? Nico, Will, _Annabeth_. Is Piper a demigod too? Hazel probably is, if she and Nico have the same dad, but Frank? Grover? Leo? Daniel?"

"Daniel is not," Percy said, "He's a hundred per cent mortal. Grover's actually a satyr. The rest? Yeah."

"Grover's a _satyr_?" Estelle was not going to be calling Maya anytime soon. Probably never. Her mind wouldn't stop spinning. "And Rachel?"

"She's actually mortal," Percy said. "Oracle of Delphi, but mortal."

There was a weighted silence.

"I'm sorry for not telling you sooner," Percy said. "I just…We wanted to keep you safe."

"From what?" Estelle asked. "I'm not a demigod. I don't have the scent. I couldn't even see the _nosoi_ till the other three forced me to concentrate, and even then it was this faint, almost invisible blob."

"Seriously?" Percy asked. He looked annoyingly pleased. "You couldn't? That's great!"

"No, it's not."

"Oh, Stella, it really is. It's great news. That—I thought this would mess you up, make you a target even, but you may not even be able to see the monsters. They won't ever attack you. You'll be safe."

"I wasn't today."

"The _nosoi_ was a rarity. Most monsters wouldn't look your way." He lifted Estelle chin up. "Hey, what wrong? Do you miss Sarah and Tim? They can always visit."

"No, it's not…they're nice people, but we aren't really close." Estelle sighed. "_We_ are though. And now I feel like I don't know you. Or Annabeth, or Nico, or Will, or…I feel like I don't know any of you."

"You do, though," Percy said. "Who our parents are…it hasn't mattered in a while. Will was right. You grow older, your scent becomes weaker. It doesn't change anything."

"It's still a long story," Estelle said.

"What?"

"Nothing, Nico and Will were…it doesn't matter to me, but obviously it mattered a lot to you. And Annabeth. To everyone. It's a big deal, and I know nothing about it. I get that it's a long story, and one which doesn't really have anything to do with me, but I'd like to hear it."

Percy considered her. "Okay."

Estelle felt surprised despite herself. "Okay?"

"Yeah. I'll tell you the story. Not everything, not yet, because somethings…there will be time later, and I will tell you, but somethings you will never be ready to hear, and I will never be ready to tell. But I'll tell you about all I can, alright?"

"Sure." She scooched up. "I'm all ears."

Percy looked flabbergasted. "Today?"

"Well, you don't have to tell me the _whole_ story today. Pace yourself. Tell me like _one_ adventure today."

Percy shook his head with an incredulous smile. "Want me to tell you why Mom was so hesitant to send you to the Metropolitan Museum in the rain?"

Estelle frowned. "_You_ are the cause of that?"

Percy snorted. "I'm the cause of a lot of rules in this house. _Not_ my fault though, I always tried to be a good boy who stayed out of trouble. No, _seriously_," he laughed when Estelle smacked him with a pillow. "Look, I didn't want to be a half-blood…"

* * *

**And that's a wrap! Few notes:**

**Basically, in my head, Trials Of Apollo is going to end with Apollo dying. Granted, I **_**do**_** think he'll be brought back, but in this fic just assume that he couldn't be brought back to life due to some reason or the other. Reverse deus ex machina if you will. Sarah was born less than a year before he turned mortal. **

**Estelle doesn't have the ability to see through the mist. Maya does, but she's not a demigod. **

**I feel like I should clear this up: I have no knowledge about the Metropolitan Museum Of Art. I don't know what exhibits it has, what relics it contains. Take everything with a pinch of salt.**

**There are a NUMBER Of Easter eggs and mini homages for die hard PJO/HOO/TOA fans. Easter's coming soon anyway, so may as well hunt.**

**Please review/comment/shout into the void or whatever! Thanks for reading!**


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